Henze's Benz

Started by snyprrr, December 03, 2011, 02:44:37 PM

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Cato

Quote from: Cato on September 07, 2017, 06:32:56 AM

Soon, Symphony I, and then I will look into the later symphonies: VIII and IX I have never heard.

So upon re-revisiting the First Symphony, my impressions are: at times interesting, e.g. the opening, which sounds like Debussy after a visit to Schoenberg's house in Vienna!  A pastoral atmosphere is established, although it will not last.  The music meanders a bit in the later part of the first movement, but toward the end regains focus.  The second movement has some nice solo writing.  The last movement has a kind of stretto with comments from the pastoral atmosphere heard at the beginning.  The last minutes contain a good deal of hin und her and then everything fades away.
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Cato

#122
Okay, the Seventh Symphony I have now heard twice recently: the opening movement, marked Tanz (Dance) almost instantly reminded me of the Robert Browning Overture of Charles Ives, which of course is not a bad association!  8)  The slow movement is rather mysterious and seems to yearn for a Brucknerian expression of anguish at one point.  The Scherzo I found to be a return to the Sixth Symphony, a dense mass of sounds, but perhaps a little more interesting.  The Finale opens with a kind of "space music"  ???  which eventually builds to several dramatic peaks (Ligeti might come to mind now and then).  The dense textures are thinned out in general, the dissonance is a little less strident, until the last bars: and then everything breaks off.

I liked it better the second time, so give this work a chance!
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

relm1

Quote from: Cato on September 21, 2017, 03:57:26 AM
Okay, the Seventh Symphony I have now heard twice recently: the opening movement, marked Tanz (Dance) almost instantly reminded of the Robert Browning Overture of Charles Ives, which of course is not a bad association!  8)  The slow movement is rather mysterious and seems to yearn for a Brucknerian expression of anguish at one point.  The Scherzo I found to be a return to the Sixth Symphony, a dense mass of sounds, but perhaps a little more interesting.  The Finale opens with a kind of "space music"  ???  which eventually builds to several dramatic peaks (Ligeti might come to mind now and then).  The dense textures are thinned out in general, the dissonance is a little less strident, until the last bars: and then everything breaks off.

I liked it better the second time, so give this work a chance!

The No. 7 is probably my favorite of his.  Perhaps because of the slow gradual build up in the last movement "spacey" music which I find quite dramatic and effective.  I also find this to be one of his most accessible symphonies.  In truth, I don't think any of his symphonies are difficult - some just don't keep my attention but overall they are quite good, colorful, dramatic, and frequently inventive.

Cato

Quote from: relm1 on September 21, 2017, 06:07:45 AM
The No. 7 is probably my favorite of his.  Perhaps because of the slow gradual build up in the last movement "spacey" music which I find quite dramatic and effective.  I also find this to be one of his most accessible symphonies.  In truth, I don't think any of his symphonies are difficult - some just don't keep my attention but overall they are quite good, colorful, dramatic, and frequently inventive.

I will admit the same thing happened to me: loss of attention, perhaps because the music does not "move" at times.  When I think of e.g. Charles Wuorinen's Grand Bamboula, a 12-tone work (a la Wuorinen   ;)  ), I think of a work that moves at various speeds.  Is it "noisy" and dense at times?  Yes, but it goes somewhere.  As I write, I am beginning to think that a static nature in at least some of Henze's notes may cause that loss of attention.
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

snyprrr

Quote from: Cato on September 07, 2017, 06:32:56 AM

I believe it is more "caphonic" than "dode" !   0:)

yes,... noisy as fffffffuuuu...

You make 7 sound ok. I remember not liking the Rattle when it came out. I guess, try again...



CATO- did you see my "Concertos" Post above?

Cato

Quote from: snyprrr on September 22, 2017, 07:58:58 AM
yes,... noisy as fffffffuuuu...

You make 7 sound ok. I remember not liking the Rattle when it came out. I guess, try again...



CATO- did you see my "Concertos" Post above?

Ears change!  ;)

And yes to the concertos, but I will need to work on some of those next week!  0:)
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

snyprrr

Quote from: Cato on September 22, 2017, 08:03:44 AM
Ears change!  ;)

And yes to the concertos, but I will need to work on some of those next week!  0:)

On a Henze tear all of a sudden. Some quick notes from sampling:

1) Double Concerto: written for the Holligers, hey, quite the AvantGarde piece!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for its cool '60s
    sounds,... sounds like Lutoslawski??

2) Violin Concerto No.1: early, I wasn't impressed AT ALL.

3) Violin Concerto No.2 (1971): COOL AS f***. This is about as groovy as Henze gets? Many should like.GREAT

4) Piano Concerto No.2 (1967): pretty impressive large scale, 20th century Brahms? RECOMMENDED.

5) 'Tristan': for piano, tape, and orchestra... NOISY AS F&&&...like Nono?... I was like "eh"... but formidable.

6) Fantasia for Strings: from the 'Exorcist'. Henze's serious Neo-Classicism. I like.

7) 'The Raft of the Medusa': too AvantGarde for me at the moment.

8) 'The Bassiards': ORESTEIA... hey, this one sounds pretty cool. Check it out. His BigClassic apparently.

9) Symphony 7: yea, ... 1st mvmt.,... this is about as serious and "dreary" as I recall. I like it better now, but it's still a pretty
                          rough slog for me,... serious serious serious... I'll return...

snyprrr

Still plowing through the field here:


Piano Concerto No.1- I enjoyed much more than VC1, very BAZimmermann.
Ode to the Westwind- Cello Concerto, also enjoyed, sounded like early BAZ.
Double Bass Concerto- also enjoyable

El Cimmaron- yes, very Avant, and sort of enjoyable, but only in an Avant way for me.

Barcarola- ok, very dark and dreary, I seem to remember the feeling from when the CD came out. Still a bit dreary and
                 anonymous for me,... I'll try back...

Nachstucke und Arien (1958)- a vocal work that I actually liked!! still Expressionistic...


kyjo

I listened to Henze's Symphony no. 8 a while ago and remember enjoying it quite a bit - it's time I explore more of his output...
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

snyprrr

Quote from: kyjo on September 29, 2017, 08:17:47 AM
I listened to Henze's Symphony no. 8 a while ago and remember enjoying it quite a bit - it's time I explore more of his output...

I should put 8-10 on the que...

Try working backwards from his Last Works,...


I AM getting the impression that Henze maaay be a bit of a @PrimaDonna,... don't know why Tippett would come to mind,... but HWH certainly has an all encompassing interest. For some reason, I don't think of him as "political", just an uber elite, comfy wunderkind poofy diva, somewhat typical. BUT, I am enjoying hearing many works.

LATEST:

In memoriam: La weisse Rose (1964): Expressionistic, ok,... mm,... not my fav

La Vitalo Raddiodoppio(??1977): a chaconne Violin Concerto, EVERYONE SHOULD LIKE THIS.

La selvia incantata: "enchanted forest"- late music, atmospheric, people should like, He's writing "normal, good" music here.

bwv 1080

#131
I don't think Hans was all that enthusiastic about badminton

https://www.youtube.com/v/4G-aWqfQu8Y

And I heard somewhere that he fell out with Julian over his not playing the last of the Second Royal Winter Music sonatas

mjwal

Back after a long absence, I cast eyes on this thread. My first thought is, Oh, I really like his film music on record,e.g.Swann In Love, Amour à Mort or Muriel. Of the operas I have seen, I best liked Boulevard Solitude (a gorgeous score), Die Bassariden - which blows me away on disc too - and The Sailor...Sea (otherwise known as Eiko something in the Japanese version) - I haven't heard a recording; his last opera, Phaedra, was premiered in Berlin, and I was so blown away that I went again, very unusual for me, seeing as how I'm always out of pocket*. I used to like the original (Atherton) recording of Voices on LP a lot, then I found it a bit obvious in places, not to say corny. My LPs and a lot of my CDs are in The Other Place, who knows if I shall ever see them again. I grow old, I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. Q: Why doesn't somebody set that wonderful poem to music? *Please send a small contribution, guv.
The Violin's Obstinacy

It needs to return to this one note,
not a tune and not a key
but the sound of self it must depart from,
a journey lengthily to go
in a vein it knows will cripple it.
...
Peter Porter

bwv 1080

Having heard I think most all of the recordings of Henze's guitar music, this is my favorite:


North Star

Quote from: bwv 1080 on October 31, 2017, 05:53:04 AM
Having heard I think most all of the recordings of Henze's guitar music, this is my favorite:


That's the only one I own, it's very good indeed.
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr


snyprrr


bwv 1080

Here is the Carillion from Carillion, Recitativ, Masque arranged for a music box

https://www.youtube.com/v/k8J2I0G5UmE

and the original

https://www.youtube.com/v/J9Pd4d5pdZA

relm1

I think it is interesting that a premiere performance seems so approachable.  I think this sounds so wonderful and approachable for a complex work.  At 7:52, to me, it sounds quite a bit like something from Havergal Brian.  What do you all think?  This is kind of English/Italian version of Germanic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwKp6hlLg5U

Mirror Image

#139
Quote from: relm1 on November 22, 2021, 04:38:47 PM
I think it is interesting that a premiere performance seems so approachable.  I think this sounds so wonderful and approachable for a complex work.  At 7:52, to me, it sounds quite a bit like something from Havergal Brian.  What do you all think?  This is kind of English/Italian version of Germanic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwKp6hlLg5U

I think Henze is a fascinating composer and there are some remarkable works in his oeuvre. His numbered symphonies being particularly noteworthy. It seems, and I've said this before, that he was one of classical music's great chameleons in that there wasn't a genre that he couldn't write well in --- orchestral, ballet, chamber, lieder, operas, etc., but also he wrote effortlessly in many styles: Neo-Romantic, 12-tone, Neoclassical et. al. I recall the 7th being quite good. I should plan a revisit.